


The Great Debates: The Other Side

by Nonlinearone1105



Series: Master Debaters [2]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/F, Fluffy Ending, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-26
Updated: 2015-02-26
Packaged: 2018-03-15 07:24:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3438593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nonlinearone1105/pseuds/Nonlinearone1105
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A companion piece to "Master Debaters".  B'Elanna's POV this time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Great Debates: The Other Side

**Author's Note:**

> Reposting from LJ.
> 
> Original author's note: Apparently, B'Elanna wanted to tell her side of the story, and who was I to argue? I guess the muses like me lately? *shrug*

She hadn’t meant for it to happen.  That wasn’t to say she hadn’t _wanted_ it to happen.  In fact, she’d thought about it a lot.  Practically every time she saw the redhead, her mind strayed somewhere inappropriate.  Janeway had fascinated her from the beginning.  Well, once she got past hating her.  Looking back, it was just after she watched the captain so casually hustle Chakotay at pool that her perspective began to change.  That night, B’Elanna saw that there was more to her than the straight-laced Starfleet officer.  She _could_ let her hair down, after all.

Over time, she would come to realize that Janeway was incredibly intelligent, though modest, as well as witty, passionate, a brilliant scientist, and a much better engineer than she would have first guessed.  Despite these discoveries, it took her even longer to trust that she wasn’t being set up to fail.  But, in the end, Kathryn had proved her wrong yet again.  Janeway wanted her to succeed; encouraged her, guided her, believed in her.

That wasn’t to say that things were perfect.  She had her difficulties – mostly with controlling her temper – and the two of them had their disagreements – mostly because of her impulsive nature…and her temper – but overall, things were good.  She enjoyed working with the redhead; loved having a sharp mind off of which she could bounce ideas.  Actually, that’s how it had started.  She sought out Janeway’s opinion, brought her ideas that anyone else would consider harebrained just because they couldn’t see the potential.  But Kathryn could – she listened, considered the possibilities, played devil’s advocate, challenged her, but always respected the fact that they shared a common goal – trying to do what was best for the ship.  They didn’t always agree on what was the best way to go about that, and it was ultimately the captain’s decision, but B’Elanna never felt like her ideas were being passed over.

It was a whole new world for her.  In the past, everyone had either been too afraid to contradict her or had refused to listen to her in the first place – after all, what could a half Klingon misfit possibly have to offer?  Even Chakotay had pretty much just let her do whatever she wanted.  But now she had someone who wasn’t afraid to challenge her, to disagree, to debate the issue.  And the debates…well, they managed to push her buttons in a major way.  It was thrilling, really.

She started looking for reasons to find her way to the ready room.  She always had an eye out for possible new projects.  She didn’t hesitate to ask for exactly what she wanted, as much for the discussion that almost inevitably ensued as for the sake of the project itself.  She also found herself clinging to her points for longer than she normally would.  She was stubborn, yes, but it was more that she didn’t want to it to end.

She couldn’t say for sure when the impure thoughts started.  They crept up on her, unconscious at first, and hit her smack in the face in the middle of a staff meeting one morning.  Once she had a chance to think about it, it wasn’t actually that surprising.  She’d always been drawn to strong women, and when you added passionate debates to the mix…

She sat with it for a while, and finally decided that it really didn’t need to change anything.  She was pretty positive that Kathryn enjoyed their verbal sparring almost as much as she did, so why stop?  So what if it made her fantasize about throwing the redhead down on her desk and having her way with her?  No one else had to know that.

But of course it happened anyway.  Not atop the desk, as she had imagined, but up against the wall.  She blamed her Klingon side.  Her Human side wanted it, too, but it was only the more aggressive side of her that would have acted on it.  It was her Klingon side that was always screwing things up.

She was too caught up in the moment to truly realize what she was doing until it was over.  As she pulled back, looking into the flushed face of her commanding officer, she registered surprise in the cool blue eyes.  Shocked and embarrassed by her lack of control, she straightened her uniform and beat a hasty retreat before the look of surprise could turn to anger.

 

Oddly enough, nothing seemed to change.  Kathryn wandered into engineering later that night as if nothing had happened.  B’Elanna had expected her to avoid the engine room when she made her nightly rounds, but there she was, checking in and acting no differently than she always had.  She made no mention of what had occurred in the ready room, didn’t so much as throw her a significant glance.  Taking her cues from the older woman, B’Elanna went along with it, pretending it hadn’t happened, hoping that if she did, things wouldn’t be completely ruined.

 

The next great debate actually started during a staff meeting.  It was toward the end anyway, and since it didn’t really involve any other department, Janeway had dismissed the rest of the senior staff and they had moved to the ready room.  Kathryn’s gaze had been electric, meeting her eyes and practically daring her to make a move.

It was too much to pass up.  Her impulses got the best of her yet again, and suddenly she had the lithe redhead pinned to the wall for the second time in as many weeks.  This time, however, Janeway was far from passive, tearing at her clothing and giving her no doubt that this was mutual.  Not only was she not fighting it, she was participating.

Still, when it was over, B’Elanna couldn’t bear to acknowledge it.  Acknowledging it would make it real.  As long as it was just something that happened, things were okay, but making it real might mean they had to stop – or at least face the consequences.  After all, how many times had the captain brushed off Chakotay’s advances?  She seemed so determined to be alone.  Surely she wouldn’t allow it to be something planned, something that could continue to happen once they talked about it.  So they just wouldn’t talk about.

 

It kept happening.  On the desk – finally…she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when she received the work order later that day to fix the captain’s workstation, which they had knocked to the floor in the midst of their enthusiasm.  On the floor – which reminded her that she wasn’t as young as she used to be and led to on the couch the next time.  And of course their old standby – against the wall – which usually happened when Kathryn got up to get more coffee.  Coffee B’Elanna was convinced she had only so she could sit back in her chair and smirk over the mug as they talked.  Sometimes she was probably actually only getting up to pace, as B’Elanna knew she tended to do when she talked.  Or maybe she did it in hopes that B’Elanna would do exactly what she always did…but that was probably just wishful thinking.

For a while, it was enough for it to be just release, a way to relieve the tension they were all under every day.  But then she found herself thinking about the redhead in between her trips to the ready room.  She couldn’t get that damned smirk out of her head, couldn’t forget the look in the blue eyes and the soft sound she made in the back of her throat as she climaxed.  The feel of her lips and her hands…

What the hell?  Now it was her Human side screwing things up, being all stupid and mushy.  Why couldn’t a quick – but very good – fuck every now and then be enough?  She paced her quarters, determined to force it away, but it was no use.  Before she knew it, she was on deck three staring at the door to the captain’s quarters.  She _had_ to work on her impulse control.

“Come in.”  Had she pressed the door chime?  Apparently so.  Then the door was sliding open and she entered the softly illuminated room to be greeted by the sight of one redheaded captain gloriously out of uniform.  It was a nice change to feel silk beneath her hands instead of the sturdy uniform material to which she had grown accustomed.

They had never done this outside of the ready room, but Kathryn didn’t seem to mind.  Cool hands slid beneath her uniform with practiced ease as they kissed.  Then the world was changing, moving, the safety of the wall gone and they were stumbling, Kathryn’s hand still between her legs.  They were falling, and the stinging pain of Kathryn’s fingers pulling against her only fueled the fire in her blood.

It was quick, almost frantic, but still satisfying.  She couldn’t think; all she could do was feel.  It was intense, and just what she needed.  As her body began to relax, she realized that for once, instead of being so focused on the pleasure of the woman beneath her, she had lost herself in her own.  But again, Kathryn didn’t seem to mind.

She leaned down, kissing her, for once not taking but giving and allowing the same to be given in return.  Kathryn melted beneath her, humming and kissing her back.  Somehow, it felt much better this way.  Eventually, she left the soft lips, trailing over the strong jaw line to her throat.  Kahless, she smelled amazing – how had she not truly noticed before?  She moved lower, then lower still.  Her lips found silk and she kept going, caressing through the thin material.  Delicate hands snaked out of her uniform and slid up her back, rubbing her shoulders in encouragement.

Kathryn tried to squirm away as she nuzzled the soft rounding of her stomach, obviously ticklish, and B’Elanna could tell by the way her muscles jerked away from the touch that she was less than fond of the sensation.  Well, that and the way Kathryn’s nails dug into her shoulders – never mind that B’Elanna rather liked it.  She smirked and decided that might be useful to file away for a later date.  Lower now, tugging the nightgown up with Kathryn’s help.  Baby soft skin and then wet heat beneath her mouth.  Long fingers in her hair, stroking kindly.  She needed to feel; her hand joined her mouth, easing inside, curling, stroking, taking the time to savor it in a way she hadn’t before.

It was over too soon, and she felt a sense of loss as she retraced the path she had made before to find Kathryn’s lips again.  Kathryn’s arms around her, fingers in her hair, twirling the short strands at the base of her skull in a very pleasant way.  Her spine tingled.

Kathryn sighed when they parted.  Was it contentment or disappointment at how things had played out?  B’Elanna had, after all, broken the rules.  This was not the ready room and there had been no debate and that hadn’t been just a quick fuck.  She studied the redhead’s face, realizing that she was here not with the captain, but the woman she kept so carefully hidden away.  There was no uniform for her to hide behind, but her face remained as unreadable as ever.  When she wished, Kathryn let her emotions show through as plain as day, but when she didn’t – a still, quiet mask, giving nothing away.  Most people didn’t know that, hadn’t studied her long enough to see that she showed only what she wanted to show – enough to make her Human in the eyes of the crew but not so much as to make her seem weak and overly emotional.

Right now, she just looked thoughtful, and thoughtful…was probably bad.  B’Elanna allowed her eyes to drift over the smooth features one last time, saying a silent goodbye, surprised to find that her chest felt tight.  What was that about?  She started to pull away, to run as she always did, but Kathryn’s embrace tightened, not allowing her to go.  Her eyes flew back to meet warm blue, confused.  This wasn’t how this part was supposed to go, how it had always gone between them.  “Stay?”  It was just a breath, but B’Elanna knew it was real – she had seen her lips move, had felt warm breath against her face, and the hopeful look on Kathryn’s face was more than enough to tell her that it was a question, not an order.  Her heart had stopped beating, she was certain of it.

“Stay?” she murmured back, uncertain.  A slight bob of Kathryn’s head that she thought might be a nod, accompanied by a soft smile that was almost bashful.  There was something she had never seen on Kathryn’s face before.  It was so real and soft and…real.  B’Elanna couldn’t help but smile back and suddenly she could feel her heartbeat again.  Kathryn wanted her to stay.  Apparently, thoughtful hadn’t been such a bad thing after all.  “Yeah, I can do that.”


End file.
